The Court of Appeal has overturned a ruling of Bayelsa Election Petition Tribunal, which nullified the election of Douye Diri as governor of Bayelsa State.
In a unanimous judgment, the five-man panel of the appellate court held that the Bayelsa Election Petition Tribunal acted outside its jurisdiction by nullifying the election of Governor Diri.
The court observed that the Advanced Nigeria Democratic Party failed woefully to prove that it had a valid candidate that was unlawfully excluded in the Bayelsa governorship poll by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The appellate court therefore reprimanded the tribunal for ignoring the fact that the petition of ANDP was status barred in addition to the fact that the party presented an unqualified candidate to INEC in the November 16, 2019 Governorship election in Bayelsa State.